YAOUNDE, June 25 (Xinhua) -- The African Development Bank (ADB)plans to allocate 4.8 billion U.S. dollars from 2008 to 2010 for boosting agricultural development in Africa, ADB President Donald Kaberuka said here Wednesday.

    Kaberuka made the pledge at the ninth summit of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa.

    Over the past 10 years, agricultural production in Africa has registered an average annual growth of less than 3 percent, said Kaberuka. This is due to low output per hectare despite rise in farmland, and the lack of infrastructure in some African countries that has led to a high wastage of crops in harvest, sometimes as high as 40 percent.

    Meanwhile, the demand for food has gone up, as average annual population growth in some African countries has exceeded 3 percent during the past decade, he added.

    The ADB has taken measures to raise output per hectare in the continent, such as improving irrigation systems and promoting use of high-quality seeds and fertilizer, said Kaberuka. Funds will also be provided for infrastructure construction, he added.

    The bank will adopt feasible and pragmatic support programs to help African countries shift fundamentally from heavy reliance on grain imports to eventual self-reliance in agricultural products, the ADB chief emphasized.